Plant Varieties - Nador Cott Protection v ASDA
Jane Lambert Patents Court (Mr Justice Mellor) Nador Cott Protection SAS v Asda Stores Ltd and another [2026] EWHC 553 (Pat) (12 March 2026) This was a claim by Nador Cott Protection SAS against ASDA Stores Ltd, and International Procurement and Logistics Ltd. for the alleged infringement of Plant Breeders' Right number 28016 by importing Tang Gold oranges into the UK and retailing them to the British public. The action came on for trial before Mr Justice Mellor on 25 and 26 Nov 2025. By para [359] of his judgment in Nador Cott Protection SAS v Asda Stores Ltd and Another [2026] EWHC 553 (Pat), which he handed down on 12 March 2026, the learned judge dismissed the action. Issues His lordship set out the issues in the trial as follows: whether the Tang Gold fruit was a dependent variety of Nador Cott's ("the dependent variety issue"), and if it was whether Nador Cott Protection had lost its right of action because it had a rea...